The single judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that simply because the police laid a charge sheet it would not enable the Tribunal to assume that the accident occurred on account of the rash and negligence.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the petitioner along with Dande Narasimhulu left the village to go to Kadapa and when they were proceeding, the motorcycle being driven in a rash and negligent manner came from the wrong side and dashed the Petitioner. Due to this, the petitioner sustained a fracture of the left thigh and some other injuries. The Petitioner was filed before the tribunal and the Petitioner made the claim of Rs.2,50,000/- and the same was dismissed. Aggrieved by this, the present appeal is filed.
Contentions of the Appellant
The Appellant contended that mere delay in lodging the report is not fatal to a case filed by the Petitioner. It was furthermore contended that as the treatment was undergoing in several hospitals, the report could not be lodged immediately.
The Appellant relied upon the judgments titled T. Lakshmiammal and another vs. Jothi Anandan and The National Insurance Company Limited vs. Komaravolu Srinivasa Baradwaj and another.
Contentions of the Respondent
The Respondent contended that even the wound certificate was signed after one day of the lodging of the report. It was furthermore contended that merely because the charge sheet was filed by the police, the case of the petitioner cannot be substantiated.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that the mere fact that the police have filed a charge sheet does not inevitably mean that the case is legitimate. In the present case, the Petitioner didn’t disclose to the doctor that he received injuries.
It was noted that signing the wound certificate after the lodging of the report throws any amount of suspicion about its bonafide and no record exists which shows that the Petitioner received injuries in the motor vehicle accident.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that the tribunal rightly dismissed the claim.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court dismissed the Appeal.
Case title: Busetty Srinivasulu V. P. Srinivasulu
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ravindra Babu
Case No.: MOTOR ACCIDENT CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO: 1219/2016
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